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Kagome found herself carried into a large office, which seemed to be manned entirely by ogres.  This was odd in and of itself, but what really stunned Kagome was that sitting behind the largest desk, clearly in charge, was an oversized toddler with a bright red pacifier.  Even for Kagome, who had seen a lot of unusual things in her 17 years, it was pretty weird.  She realized, of course, where they must be.  This had to be the headquarters of the Reikai, which meant that the oversized toddler in charge must be Koenma.  Swiftly, Kagome decided to maintain her “I know nothing” claim.  She had no desire for the Reikai to find out about Shippo and Kirara.  It had taken a year, or 465 years, depending on the perspective, for her family to be reunited; she would not let it be torn apart again by a pacifier-sucking little boy.
  “Sir, this is the energy source we’ve been picking up.”  The Grim Reaper, Botan was pretty sure her name was, informed Koenma.  The toddler glanced up from his paperwork absently, and muttered something along the lines of “very good”.  Yusuke rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and slammed his hand down right next to Koenma.
“Hey, toddler!  We just went across town to pick up this girl, who wasn’t exactly cooperative!  If you do not actually talk to this chick, I will have to do something painful.”  He snarled, successfully attracting Koenma’s attention.  Kagome could not help but giggle, then felt a pang at how much the boy resembled an irritated InuYasha.  She did not have time to dwell on this comparison, because that was when Koenma really looked at her, and she looked at him.  Their eyes locked, and Koenma’s eyes widened.  Kagome cursed mentally.  Apparently, she was still recognizable to some of the Reikai’s employees, one of the last things she wanted.  So, she tried to shake the recognition.
  “Of course I was uncooperative!  You followed me from school, then sent someone to chase me!  I don’t even know you people!  Heck, I don’t even know where the Hell we are!  Would someone please tell me what the heck is going on?!”  Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama looked slightly guilty, Kuwabara and Yusuke more so than Kurama.  Hiei on the other hand, showed no remorse for his actions.  In fact, Hiei did not really show any emotion whatsoever.  Shippo had not been kidding when he said he was like Sesshoumaru.  Koenma and Botan, like most of the tantei, looked a bit ashamed of themselves.  Kagome felt a glimmer of hope that she would get out of this without being identified, and more importantly, without anyone noticing the small pink orb-shaped jewel hanging in the center of a strand of jade prayer beads around her neck, and under her school uniform.  Kagome had no desire to start fighting for the Shikon no Tama again, and that was quite certain that was what would happen if Koenma found out she had it.  The junior ruler of the Reikai cleared his throat uncomfortably.
  “I’d like to speak to this young lady alone for a bit.  It won’t take long.”  The Reikai tantei looked at him suspiciously, but filed out.  Botan, however, stayed put.
“You’re not getting rid of me.”  She said bluntly.   Kagome giggled.  Koenma sighed, but nodded before turning back to Kagome.
  “Hello Kagome.”  He said calmly.  Kagome acted freaked.
  “How do you know my name?”  Koenma looked at her.
  “Higurashi Kagome.  Age 17, fell through a time warp at the age of 15 to the Sengoku Jidai, where it was discovered that she was the reincarnation of the miko Kikyou, and were the Shikon no Tama no miko.  Responsible for the release of the hanyou InuYasha from a binding spell placed upon him by Kikyou, and later fell in love with him.  Shattered the Shikon no Tama with an arrow, spent a year and a half searching for the shards with the aforementioned hanyou, the taijiya Sango, the houshi Miroku, and the kitsune youkai kit Shippo, whom you adopted.  Responsible for the final defeat of the spider hanyou Naraku, formerly the ningen bandit Onigumo.”  Koenma listed off coolly, looking her straight in the eyes.  “That is just a summary of the  dossier the Reikai has developedon you, Kagome-sama.  Would you like to see the picture that is included?  It’s quite good.”  Kagome blinked, trying to find a way out of this mess.  After a moment of wracking her brain for a solution, she admitted defeat.  She glared at Koenma.
“No, I wouldn’t.  So, you know who I am.  Great.  Can I go home now?”
  “No.  When we got the spark of power at your shrine, I hoped it was you.  I sent my tantei after you today because I was certain your time in the Sengoku Jidai was over.”
  “This is all very interesting,” Kagome said, with a growing sense of doom, “But why do I have to stay here?”
“I’d like you to join the Reikai tantei.”  Koenma said, as though conveying a great honor upon her.  Kagome’s eyes narrowed to slits.
  “No.”  Koenma began spluttering.
  “Wh-what?  Why not?”
  “I said ‘no’.  I refuse to work for a bunch of murderers.”  Kagome informed him in an icy tone, which made Koenma shudder.
  “Kagome-sama, what would make you say that the Reikai are murderers?  Yes, the tantei are obliged to, err, eliminate, the occasional youkai, but I wouldn’t call that murder…”  Kagome looked him right in the eyes, and said in a low, dangerous voice.
  “InuYasha.”  Koenma winced.
  “You… found out about that?”  He asked weakly.
  “Yes.”
  “Ahh, well, you must understand, that was during my father’s early administration.  That sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore…”  Koenma trailed off hopefully, then gulped fearfully as Kagome’s look turned deadly.
  “It’s a tad bit stupid to ask a girl to work for the people who killed her protector.”  Kagome hissed.  Koenma blanched.
  “That was… official?” he asked weakly.
  “Of course it was!  Kaede appointed him to the post just after I shattered the Shikon no Tama, and, albeit only because he didn’t have a lot of choice, he accepted.  He was my protector from day one!  Of course, that went to heck in a hand basket when the well closed behind me…”  Kagome fell silent, fighting the lump that was rising in her throat.  Botan reached out and tentatively patted Kagome’s shoulder with a quiet “There, there”.  Kagome smiled bitterly.
  “Thank you.  But you see why I’m not exactly open to working for the Reikai…”
  “Actually,” Koenma said hesitantly, “You’re opposed to working for my father.  The Reikai tantei work for me.”  Kagome glared at him.  Koenma hurried onward.  “Really, Kagome, wouldn’t you like to help the ningen  and the youkai?  That is what I try to get the tantei to do.”  Kagome bit her lip.  She did want to help her fellow ningen, but, more importantly, she wanted to keep Shippo and Kirara in the Ningenkai, and out of the Makai.  That thought gave Kagome an idea.  She smiled in a slow, slightly evil fashion.
   “Alright.  How about we make a deal.”  Kagome offered sweetly.  Koenma leaped at the chance.
  “Yes, of course!”
  “Three things:  First, you don’t tell the other tantei about the Sengoku Jidai.”
  “I can certainly arrange that…”  Koenma began, only to be cut off by Kagome.
  “Second, let’s make sure it’s clear:  I work for you, not your father.”
  “Of course.”
  “And third, you give me official permission for two youkai of my choice to live in the Ningenkai.”  Koenma choked.
  “What?”  Kagome smiled sweetly.
  “You give me official permission for two youkai of my choice to live in the Ningenkai.”
  “But- but-”  Koenma spluttered.  Kagome’s eyes narrowed.
  “Take it or leave it.”  Koenma sighed in defeat.
  “Take it.”  He said in a dejected tone, and searched around on his desk for the appropriate forms.

  About twenty minutes later, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei were dragged back into the office.  Needless to say, they were not happy.
  “What now?”  Yusuke growled.  Botan sighed, irritated.
  “Yusuke, are you ever going to show proper respect?”
  “No.”  The tantei replied bluntly, making Kagome want to laugh and cry at the same time because of his similarity to InuYasha.  Koenma glared.
  “I actually wanted you to meet the new member of your team.”  He snapped.
  “WHAT?!?!?!”  All four boys asked, stunned and quite vocal about it.
  “You have a new member on your team.”  Koenma said calmly.
  “Who exactly is this new member?”  Kurama asked politely.  Koenma smiled, happy to be able to stun and irritate the tantei.
  “I’d like you to meet Higurashi Kagome, the new member of your team.”  This announcement was met with dead silence, then chaos struck in the form of Yusuke and Kuwabara.
  “WHAT?!”
  “But she’s a GIRL!”
  “Seriously, Koenma, who’s the new member of our team?”  Hiei and Kurama looked hard at Kagome, focusing on her as if trying to figure out what she could possibly be able to do.  Kagome’s arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed to slits.  She had experienced enough of being treated like a piece of useless deadweight during the first part of the year and a half she had spent with InuYasha, and had no intention of letting it happen again.  Coolly, she turned to Koenma.
  “Fine.  They don’t want me on the team, and I don’t particularly want to be a part of the team.  Call me if they decide they need my help.  Otherwise, leave me alone!”  She said in tones that could have come from the arctic, and turned to Botan.  “Can you open me a portal to my shrine?  My family’s probably getting worried.”  Botan glanced at Koenma, who nodded.  The blue haired grim reaper smiled brightly.
  “Sure!   Come on!”  The two girls left, leaving the boys with Koenma, who scowled.
  “I must congratulate you on alienating Kagome that quickly.  I hope you can make peace with her.”
“Why should we?”  Yusuke asked, confused.  “Didn’t she say that she didn’t want to be a part of the team?”  Koenma glared harder at him.
  “With the price I paid to get her to agree to join the team in the first place, she is going to be on the team if she is the only member of the team.”  Kurama’s eyebrows raised.
  “What exactly did you have to give her?”  he asked, with encouragement from Youko, who was interested in what could convince a girl as pretty as their new teammate to join a dangerous group like the Reikai tantei.  Koenma coughed uncomfortably.
  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you.  She asked for confidentiality.”  Kurama’s eyebrows rose even higher.
“Is there anything about her that you can tell us?”  He asked dryly.
  “Koenma shuddered.
  “Suffice to say it is a very bad idea to annoy her.  Although, she is very forgiving…”  This time it was Hiei who responded.
  “Hnn.  We’ll see.”